What happened to june?
Holy cow. When I said May flies by I think June slid down a mountain. In a good way. I have been trying to get to this blog for over a month now. As I lay here at 4:30 am writing this I feel so fortunate to have this beautiful life Michael and I have made for ourselves. Listening to the birds chirp, Milly's wind chimes chiming in the wind to let me know she is ok in doggy heaven (she will be gone 2 years on June 25th, how I miss her so😥, story to follow in another blog), and the chickens waking up in the coop with a very loud cock-a-doodle-doo. My heart is full of warmth for all who have helped throughout the years and how nature has blessed us so.
The Bees have been split and are working very hard to serve their Queens (I think that's what Michael says about me, just kidding). We have taken another honey bee class to learn more about our little friends - “Mites 101”. Yuk! Number one honey bee killer is the varroa mite. Nasty tiny things.
The bees seem to be happy. Honey supers are on. Room to make the🍯. I can't wait. It is sooo good.
Beehive one named Queen Bee (for Beyonce)
Beehive two named Queen Lo (for JLo)
We both have been stung 🐝 and have learned our lesson. We are new beekeepers so don't think we have been doing this forever. Suit up correctly 🤕. We have been checking the bees every week. It's so exciting. The established colony is in full swing. The split colony is a little slower. The queen made it back from her mating flight and is making babies by the 100s. Ouch! The brood (baby bees) are hatching and starting to serve their mama (the queen) and are in full force to help out their colony however they were born to do.
For those of you unfamiliar with bees, there are four bee types in a colony:
Queen bee - Is just that, the lady of the house. She only takes flight usually once in her life to mate with the drone bees out for flight. Then she comes back to the hive and starts laying eggs. The bees feed her a lot for energy and so she gets too fat to fly and stays in the hive making baby bees. If they decide to swarm (leave the hive and find a new home) they will starve her so she will get skinny to fly with them. See, fat and skinny happen in every culture!
Worker bees - These are the bees that go out and eat all the pollen. They bring it back to feed their family and make the honey, yum.
Nurse bees - They're the caretakers, cleaners of the hive, and babysitters.
Drone bees - The boys. Do I have to say more? They don't really do too much😁 (just kidding). They are happy to be themselves and mate with whatever they can (not kidding).
Stay tuned for more bee excitement!
The chickens are doing well. We still have all 19 and the babies are getting so big.
The dogs are hot with this weather and spend a lot of the time in the flower cooler.
Michael is finally done with school (he is a high school history teacher), so the projects begin. I think he would rather be at school.
Wildlife sightings at Meracle Acres
New bucks with their nubs starting
Mama deer and baby frolicking
Huge turtle
Load and big bullfrog
Blue heron
Giant freshwater clams
Lots of bunnies
Stray cat (we call him or her Pilgrim 2, it looks just like Pilgrim. We have to check every time we see it, to make sure Pilgrim 1 didn't get out of the house)
Blooms in Bloom is celebrating our 22 year anniversary on June 22!
The flower shop has been super busy. I honestly don't think we've ever been this busy.
THANK YOU to all who have supported my first big idea throughout the years and into the future with more ideas unfolding (stay tuned).
I LOVE my new space, the changes I have made and the knowledge I have learned.
Still going strong.
Although the ideas don't always work the way you think. Some might call it failure and quit. I've been taught to take that idea and find a different way.
Meracle Acres is almost booked everyday for June, July and August.
We’re already starting to book up quickly for the fall and winter. Get it while you can.
And last but not least. Even though Father’s Day has passed, I’d like to give a shout out to my Dad, who has always taught me that hard work does pay off. It's ok for your ideas to not always work. But it's how you learn from that failure and make it work! Love you, Dad
Michael still would really love the side by side since you don't use it😁.
Cheers till next month,
Kaycee
Meracle Acres